Implications of the IDA Architecture for Cognitive Systems

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Implications
of the IDA Architecture for
Cognitive Systems

• Stan Franklin
  and the
  Conscious
  Software Research Group

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IDA an Intelligent Distribution Agent
Dialogue with sailors Read personnel data Check
job requisition lists Enforce Navy
policies Choose jobs to offer members Negotiate
with them about jobs
Telephone
Detailer
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IDA a conscious software agent
IDA
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Global Workspace Theory

• A psychological theory of consciousness
• The nervous system is a distributed parallel
  system with many different
  specialized processors
• Global workspace contains a coalition of
  processors
• Broadcasts globally to all other processors
• Recruit other processors needed for any degree
  of novel or problematic
  situation
• Explains limited capacity and seriality

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Contexts at work
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Why a Conscious Agent?

• Flesh out the theory
  with detailed architecture and mechanisms
• Hypotheses for cognitive scientists
  and neuroscientists
• Produce flexible, adaptive, human-like software
• Want smart agents?
• Model them after humans.

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Modules and Mechanisms

• PerceptionCopycat ArchitectureHofstadter
• Action SelectionBehavior NetMaes
• Episodic MemorySparse Distributed MemoryKanerva
• EmotionsPandemonium TheoryJackson
• MetacognitionFuzzy Classifier SystemsHolland
• LearningCopycat Architecture, Reinforcement
• Constraint SatisfactionLinear Functional
• Language GenerationPandemonium Theory
• DeliberationPandemonium Theory
• Consciousness Pandemonium Theory

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IDAs Architecture
Metacognition
Database Perception
Constraint Satisfaction
Deliberation
Negotiation
Problem Solving
Behavior Net
Expectation Automization
Consciousness
Perception
Working Memory
Episodic Memory
Emotions
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Processing in IDA

• A continuing iteration of a cognitive
  cycle of activities involving

• Perception
• Working memory
• Transient episodic memory
• Declarative memory
• Consciousness
• Action selection
• Motor activity

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Cognitive Cycle Processing

• Hypothesis Like IDAs, human cognitive
  processing is via a
  continuing sequence of Cognitive Cycles
• Duration Each cognitive cycle takes roughly
  200 ms with
  steps 1 through 5 occupying about 80 ms
• Cascading Several cycles may have parts
  running simultaneously in
  parallel
• Seriality Consciousness maintains serial order
  
  and the illusion of continuity
• Start Cycle may start with action selection
  instead of perception

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Deliberation

• Faced with a goal or problem
• Imagine possible plans or solutions
• Scenarios
• Routes
• Internal virtual realityDawkins
• Evaluate them
• Using reason
• Using emotions
• Choose among them

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Ideomotor Theory

• William James (circa 1890) ----- Bernard Baars
  (1988)
• Voluntary vs non-voluntary action
• Theory of voluntary action
• Proposerspropose a course of action
• Objectorsraise objections to such a
  course of action
• Supporterslend support to such a course
  of action
• Auctioneerwields the gavel

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Ideomotor Theory in Action

• Idea pops to mind (proposer)no objection
  (objector)do it
• Objection (objector)dont do it
• Objection then support (supporter)do it
• Different proposalno objectiondo it
• Different proposaloriginal proposalno
  objectiondo it
• Last unopposed proposal is acted upon

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Varieties of Action Selection

• VolitionConscious Goal Selection
• Consciously mediated actions
• Automatized actions

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Varieties of Learning

• Perceptual Learning
• of individual, classes, relations
• Episodic Learning (transient and long-term)
• Of what, when and where
• Procedural Learning
• Which of similar skills get reinforced
• Learning is of conscious content
• Plus implicit learning of rules, etc.
• Inverse sigmoidal decay with saturation

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Varieties of Self
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Cognitive Systems

• Utilizes psychologically plausible computational
  representations
• of human cognitive processes
• as a basis for system designs
• that seek to engage the underlying mechanisms of
  human cognition
• augment the cognitive capacities of human users

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IDA Model of Cognition

• Offers a comprehensive, global view of cognition
• Multi-mechanism Unified Theory of Cognition
• Integrates a number of psychological theories
• Baars Global Workspace Theory
• Barsalous Perceptual Symbol Systems
• Baddeleys Episodic Buffer
• Ericsson and Kintschs Long-Term Working Memory
• Conways Transient Episodic Memory

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IDA as a Cognitive System

• Psychologically plausible
  computational representations? Yes
• Utilizes underlying mechanisms
  of human cognition? Yes
• Augment the cognitive capacities
  of human users? Does IDA have users?
• IDA suggests that cognitive systems
  can be comprehensive, global, integrated

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Web and Email Addresses

• Stan Franklin
• franklin_at_memphis.edu
• www.cs.memphis.edu/franklin
• Conscious Software Research Group
• www.cs.memphis.edu/csrg

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Levels of abstraction

• High level
• behaviors
• message type nodes
• emotions
• metacognitive actions
• etc.
• Low level
• codelets

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Codelets

• Small pieces of code each performing
  a simple, specialized task
• Many acts as demons, watching for a chance to act
• Most subserve some high level entity, e.g.
• behavior
• slipnet node
• metacognitive action
• Some codelets work on their own, e.g.
• watching for incoming mail
• checking for time and place conflicts
• Codelets do almost all the work
• IDA is a multi-agent system

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Perception via a Slipnet
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Coalitions and Consciousness

• Coalition manager
• Spotlight manager
• Broadcast mechanism

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A Behavior Stream
Activation from drive
Send an acknowledgement
Compose an acknowledgment
Find an email address
Find and move a template
From the Sidelines
Activation from the environment, external or
internal
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Consciousness in Action
Behavior net
Focus
Side lines
Stands
Playing field